All for a cost
by Naoto Tatsumi
Summary: Souji looses it just a little when Chie decides to have the boys 'treat' them to some steaks... Just a comedy thing I wrote when I was bored and suddenly struck by inspiration. Rated K for minor language


"Yosuke! Souji-Kun!" Chie waved them over with her hand.

"She looks… happy…" Yosuke commented, glancing at Souji. Souji shrugged, looking up at the sky. I was just a few days before that the entire town was shrouded in fog, and Ameno-Sagiri was going to bring humanity to its end. Now, the sky was blue and small fluffy snowflakes were falling serenely.

"Yo! Sempai!" Kanji called out and broke Souji from his trance. "They called you here too?" He had just caught up, apparently, as he seemed to be out of breath.

"Wait, they called you too?" Yosuke grimaced. Soujis eyes met Yosukes and they both knew that there was something undesirable waiting for them with the girls. Looking back over, Yukiko, Rise, Chie, and Naoto had already gathered and were standing outside of Junes. Yosuke had completely stopped walking now, and Souji was ready to join them when another voice called for them.

"Oh, Kanji-kun! You're here too! Come on, everyone, hurry up!" Naoto smiled, seeming a bit less up tight than usual.

"Aw, crap…" Yosuke sighed as Kanjis face went from normal to an insane shade of red within a matter of seconds.

"C-come on guys! They're waiting for us!" Kanji stuttered out as he dashed off toward them.

"N-no! Kanji wait!" Yosuke called after him, dashing off as well. Souji, on the other hand, continued to walk, seeing as how the girls were barely a few feet away.

When Souji reached the rest of the group, Chie started to beam. "Alright! Celebratory feast day!" The look on Yosukes face went from absolutely shocked to beaming as much (if not more) than Chie.

"Hell yeah! I'm down! So, who's gonna pay?"

"You guys" Chie smiled even bigger.

Yosuke was no longer beaming. "Wait… What?! What the hell??? Is THAT why you invited us?!"

"Um, yes…" Yukiko quietly spoke, looking down at the ground. Obviously, this was Chies idea, and everyone else was just kind of dragged into it.

"Hell no! There's no way I'm going to pay for all you guys too!" Yosuke fumed.

"Yeah! Me either! I don't even have any money on me!" It seemed Yosuke's fumes were feeding Kanjis temper.

"Uh, w-wait! I mean, there's no point in getting angry! Let's just step back and assess this!" Naoto tried to but in, but it was basically useless.

"But, um… Sempai! You'll help us out, right?" Rise looked at Souji desperately.

"…No"

There was absolute silence for a moment. Everyone stopped everything and looked at Souji. Not only was that one of few times he had ever spoken to any of them, but the straightforward and almost aggressive was he had spoken seemed to captivate everyone momentarily. The atmosphere shifted entirely, so much so that even Yosuke had shut up. Souji suddenly seemed… Rather angry.

"Uh, partner?" Yosuke asked sheepishly, feeling almost scared for some unexplainable reason.

"No. I refuse." Once again, silence.

"Hey Chie, can I ask you something?" Everyone looked around at one-another for a moment, puzzled at Soujis sudden forewardness.

"U-um, yes?"

"How much do women's shoes cost, on average?"

"What? W-what do you mean?"

"…Well? Do you know?"

Chie began sweating a little. "N-no… Why?"

"Well, you should know they cost a lot, at least, right?"

"Well, yeah… I-I mean, I guess so…"

"Well, shoes are very expensive… But not nearly as expensive as knee-length boots with metal plates attached to them!" Chie stepped back, obviously shocked by what she had just heard.

"W-what?!?"

"Well, you know those Stellar's Greaves that you probably have sitting in the back of your closet right now? The ones that _**I**_ bought you to fight in the TV world? Well, they were ¥61,000!"

Chies eyes widened, "B-but…!"

"Want another example? Well, about how much do think it cost me to get a pure metal fan lined with steel blades? ¥56,000!" Yukiko gulped, sweating as well. "And don't get me started on all the Kunai I had to get! Some were ¥30,000 _each_!" Yosuke looked sheepishly down at the ground. It was apparent that now he was just venting on anyone and everyone. "Hell, I had to buy a DESK! A frigging DESK! Do you know how hard that thing was to get?!? And it wasn't even the most expensive I had to buy you!" Souji pointed at Kanji, who looked like he was ready to wet himself in fright. "Damn, I wish Teddie was here… I mean, custom gloves with spikes attacked? Not cheap at all!"

_Good thing Teddie had to work today…_ Yosuke thought to himself.

"And the guns! Not only were they impossible to find, but also they were expensive as hell! Not to mention the armor for you all!" Everyone exchanged guilty glances. They all knew he was completely right, and there was no arguing.

"And who was it that paid for all those revival beads, ointments, and amrita sodas? How about 'donating' to the fox whenever you were all out of energy? Hell, I worked myself to death for that money! Do you know how many envelopes I made???" Souji crossed his arms and took a deep breath. Suddenly, he was totally calm again

"Okay, from now until I have to leave, you're each going to buy me a steak"

"W-what?" Chie stammered, absolutely dumbfounded. Everyone seemed to be recovering from the verbal beating and sudden whiplash of his calm demeanor returning.

"Today will be Chie's turn. Tomorrow will be Yosuke, all right? Rise, you don't owe me anything, so don't worry about it." He turned on his heel and, motioning for Chie to follow, entered Junes.


End file.
